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Navigating comms and PR | Lulu Cheng Meservey (Substack, Activision Blizzard)

23 Mar 2023 17 published claims 2 attributable people
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Speakers in the public record

Lulu Cheng MeserveyLenny Rachitsky

Claim mix

evaluation 6recommendation 4belief 3observation 3prediction 1

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Every row below preserves an exact excerpt. Identified speakers are linked; unresolved voices are labeled and excluded from people counts.

Claim ledger

The useful parts, with receipts.

17 published records

04 / observation

Not everyone's going to like it. And the point is that not everyone should like it, but you need a way to stand up for yourself because you don't have the big institutions and power structures that are going to do that work for you because you're going against the grain.

“Not everyone's going to like it. And the point is that not everyone should like it, but you need a way to stand up for yourself because you don't have the big institutions and power structures that are going to do that work for you because you're going against the grain.”
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

07 / observation

All the way to they actively fell off the bandwagon and you lost them, and now they're out there proactively contradicting everything you say or even trying to destroy the company, that can happen.

“All the way to they actively fell off the bandwagon and you lost them, and now they're out there proactively contradicting everything you say or even trying to destroy the company, that can happen.”
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

08 / evaluation

It is so hard and you'd have to be superhumanly gifted to the extent that I can't recall seeing in my entire life, where you create a message and a story so powerful that someone who didn't care at all before suddenly makes that their passion. It's so much easier to take what they're passionate about and understand it, and then convince them that if they care about that then they should care about your thing because of this connection.

“It is so hard and you'd have to be superhumanly gifted to the extent that I can't recall seeing in my entire life, where you create a message and a story so powerful that someone who didn't care at all before suddenly makes that their passion. It's so much easier to take what they're passionate about and understand it, and then convince them that if they care about that then they should care about your thing because of this connection.”
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

09 / evaluation

The makeup industry is smarter than all of us in how they use social media and influencers, because they caught on very early on that people don't buy makeup to subscribe to makeup brands, that they do it because a certain celebrity or influencer or Kardashian has this nice looking eyelid and they want their eyelid to look that way.

“The makeup industry is smarter than all of us in how they use social media and influencers, because they caught on very early on that people don't buy makeup to subscribe to makeup brands, that they do it because a certain celebrity or influencer or Kardashian has this nice looking eyelid and they want their eyelid to look that way.”
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

11 / evaluation

You hate when people are mad at you, so you try to appeal to them and then your true fans lose their passion because the thing that made you so special has now gone milk toast.

“You hate when people are mad at you, so you try to appeal to them and then your true fans lose their passion because the thing that made you so special has now gone milk toast.”
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

12 / evaluation

It's not a sexy topic and only moms care about it, whereas people cared a lot and still do about national defense, national security. And so she said the way to get their attention is you go to people who care about national security and you tell them, "Did you know that in order to enlist for the army you have to have a 10th grade reading level?

“It's not a sexy topic and only moms care about it, whereas people cared a lot and still do about national defense, national security. And so she said the way to get their attention is you go to people who care about national security and you tell them, "Did you know that in order to enlist for the army you have to have a 10th grade reading level?”
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

13 / evaluation

Okay, now you're a real company and now you got to do real company stuff, that means you have to issue decrees on behalf of the C corp and you don't. And it doesn't work because people don't trust institutions.

“Okay, now you're a real company and now you got to do real company stuff, that means you have to issue decrees on behalf of the C corp and you don't. And it doesn't work because people don't trust institutions.”
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

14 / observation

You remember when Mitt Romney said binders of women and it just absolutely caught on like wildfire, and it's because you can picture the binder, it's a hilarious mental image.

“You remember when Mitt Romney said binders of women and it just absolutely caught on like wildfire, and it's because you can picture the binder, it's a hilarious mental image.”
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

15 / evaluation

There was also the risk of you poke your head up and make a thing where there wasn't a thing, and if that were to go wrong and embarrass the company or if that had made Chris or Hamish or Jerraj upset, that would've been upsetting to me and obviously a failure of my job. So that was a risk that I took and we took and they were supportive, and it did work out because the people who were most likely to write on Substack generally appreciate that stance.

“There was also the risk of you poke your head up and make a thing where there wasn't a thing, and if that were to go wrong and embarrass the company or if that had made Chris or Hamish or Jerraj upset, that would've been upsetting to me and obviously a failure of my job. So that was a risk that I took and we took and they were supportive, and it did work out because the people who were most likely to write on Substack generally appreciate that stance.”
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

16 / recommendation

Mentions personal use of Notion. Mentions personal use of Microsoft Excel.

“I use Notion for almost everything, and I really like the new AI that they've built into it. I also have been using Lex, which is Nathan Baschez startup, where it's like the AI writing editor that you've probably seen. I'm trying to think if there's anything that I use that other people don't. I don't think I'm terribly original in that sense. I use a lot of Microsoft Excel, which I think is controversial.”
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

17 / recommendation

Recommends Gates of Fire.

“I recommend Gates of Fire, it comes off the Marine Commandants Reading List, it's on there perennially. It is about the Battle of Thermopylae, it's the 300 Spartans, but it's the whole backstory. And if you get into it's about leadership, it's about courage, it's about creativity, and it's really well-written, so that's one that I recommend a lot.”
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast
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